Mark Shore’s feeling a little under the weather, so instead of our normal ClipperBlog Live, I’m posting some notes on the game.

The first bullet has to be Reggie Evans, who played his first game in a Clipper uniform. He grabbed the first offensive rebound available, got fouled and rebounded his own miss. He snatched 4 rebounds in his first 4 minutes. I love him on this team. The Clippers last place position in rebounding? Hopefully we can say goodbye to that, though the Clips still lost the rebounding battle (42-37).

More Reggie, he absolutely hounded Brandon Jennings before the third quarter buzzer sounded, forcing BJ to give up the ball. The play resulted in a Stephen Jackson three, but I love Reggie’s effort.

Reggie’s thirst for rebounds might have been infectious, since Blake had 8 rebounds before the half and 14 total. Caron had 5 as well. Or it might have been the fact that Bogut was out of the game.

After a quick start, the Clippers got sloppy and turned the ball over 6 times in the first quarter (10 in the first half). Chris Paul even had 3 in that frame, including a badly botched alley-oop to Blake. Neither Chauncey nor Paul had an assist until Chauncey’s pass to Blake for a dunk at the one minute mark in the second quarter. They calmed down in the second half, only turning the ball over 3 times, which helped them put away the Bucks.

Mo Williams had an amazing swat on Brandon Jennings as the time expired in the first quarter. A chasedown that must have shocked Jennings (and me). Mo continued to play really well, got open shots in that 12-18 foot range and seems to really know his role. He continued to shine in his limited role, scoring 10 points on 4-7 shooting and handing out 4 assists. On the flipside, I thought Mo’s defense on Brandon Jennings was pretty awful, and a reason the game stayed as close as it did in the fourth quarter, though Mo’s lackluster defense isn’t exactly a revelation.

Blake’s up and under at the end of the second quarter was really pleasing to see. Love the development of counter moves in the post. He also limited his long twos, which I also like.

Caron had his best night as a Clipper against his hometown team. 20 points on 7 for 15 shooting and 5 rebounds.

Clips held the Bucks to 36 percent shooting, but it’s not something to get too excited about, since the Bucks are an especially errant shooting team without Andrew Bogut.

Blake had a surge around the 9 minute mark in the third quarter, when he worked a spin move off the left block for a savage dunk, and then a miracle and one before going horizontal on a dunk from a Chris Paul lob. And then another dunk where he ruined Ersan Ilyasova. That gave the Clips a ton of momentum.

Paul chipped in with some great steals in that third quarter run (4 steals total), and even though he didn’t have a great stat line, he found ways to make large contributions.

DeAndre had his worst game this year (3 points on 0-2 shooting, 3-6 from the line, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks), as he got into foul trouble early and never got any rhythm. It hurt that Paul struggled in the first half, too, since DeAndre doesn’t create his own offense. Though DeAndre redeemed himself with two unreal blocked shots in the fourth quarter. One came on a Brandon Jennings drive, and DeAndre knocked the shot out to a teammate. The other was when DeAndre completely roofed Stephen Jackson, resulting in a jump ball.

Watching Brandon Jennings makes me realize how good Chris Paul is ball handling. When Jennings has to make a tough behind the back, or sneak through defenders, you see him peek at the ball, just to make sure. It limits his vision. But Chris Paul almost never looks down, despite weaving in and out of the defense, which keeps his options available at all times. Small difference that has a huge impact on their value.

Not a great win, the Bucks are mediocre even when healthy and they were banged up tonight. But, as they say, a win’s a win, and the Clippers are 4-2.

CP3 and the Clips struggled tonight to figure out the zone defense the Bucks implemented. The only reason the Clips won the game was because the Clips came out on fire in the second half and were engaged to play scrappy defense. Foul trouble especially in the third quarter against the Bucks gave the Clips the advantage to stay ahead. Going forward, VDN needs to make better adjustments after the half of each game and needs to make better adjustments even in game. VDN can’t be like Spoelstra last year and hope to just grind and not make many adjustments and hope to win games. He needs to work on that.

Tim

Remember the 3 guard attack towards the end of the 4th quarter? Does that count as an adjustment? That adjustment seemed to work just fine.

Clips4

Not so much about the lineup changes, but more in changing the offensive schemes that are within the offensive system. The three guard lineup works against scrub teams like Milwaukee, but when we can’t do that against the elite teams for long stretches.

AH

Saw a report in SI.com saying Jerry Sloan would be open to coaching again. It would be great if we made a deep run and then declined VDN’s team option to get Sloan. Unfortunately, I fear that a good showing in the playoffs (2nd round, game 7 or further) would keep VDN at least another year. Two questions:

1. Can anyone think of who the Clips should get as coach if VDN wasn’t brought back? Van Gundy and Sloan are the only high profile names I can think of available. Larry Brown is available but I think he’s cooked.

2. Does anyone else wonder if people will start to reassess VDN if the Clips go on a tear this season because of the talent influx? Kind of like how Doc Rivers was a terrible coach before the Big 3 arrived and now he’s considered a top level coach.

griffin

I think neil olshey knows how bad of a job vdn is doing. Eventually if some big name coaches are available neil olshey will make the right moves in getting that coach. Hell he got cp3 so I’m sure he will get sloan. We have the peices we just need an excellent coach to orchestrate those amazing peices. If they want to keep cp3 and blake I’m sorry but vdn ain’t gonna cut it. He is now the weakest link.

griffin

And vdn had amazing talent before in the bulls but they never made a finals run with vdn. Now they are and I’m sure with a coach like sloan or van gundy will be awesome. Like I said before we have all star talent so we need an all star type coach to continue. Reason I think the heat didn’t win last year was becuz of spolestra and lebron. This year if they lose spolestra is gone

Killer Instinct

Doc Rivers was a terrible coach before the Big 3 arrived? You have no idea what you’re talking about. Doc Rivers was the NBA Coach of the Year in the 1999-00 season, almost making the playoffs with an atrocious Orlando Magic roster filled with bums and losers.

Doc Rivers is an excellent coach. Always has been, always will be. In fact, he was an excellent coach even before he ever got his first head coaching job in the NBA. If you ask any of his old coaches who coached him as a player, they’ll all tell you that Doc Rivers was born to be a head coach in the NBA.

But you’re right about VDN. He is not a great coach. Not even a good one. And I’m willing to put money on it that he will not be back next season.

Jerry Sloan would be a horrible coach for this Clippers team. Jerry Sloan is not a good coach. He’s just perceived to be a good coach because he is old school. He is too set in his old school ways to be an effective coach in this modern era of the NBA.

For the players that we have on this team, we need someone like Byron Scott or Brian Shaw. I know Doc Rivers signed something like a 5 year deal with Boston, but he’d be a PERFECT coach for our team. But it probably won’t happen.

But one thing is for sure, VDN needs to go.

Clips4

I actually like Sloan for the job because of the system he runs. CP3 and BG = Stockton and Malone version 2.0. That would be great.

Killer Instinct

There’s a reason why Jerry Sloan didn’t get along with Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. And there’s a reason why Jerry Sloan was fired from Utah. Jerry Sloan is no better than Larry Brown. Both are old school coaches with old school philosophies.

There’s a difference between being “old school” and just being “old”. I.E., Greg Popovich is an old coach, but he’s not “old school”. Phil Jackson is old, but he’s not “old school”.

If Jerry Sloan was constantly underachieving with a loaded Utah Jazz roster, what makes you think he will do any better with the Clippers?

The combo of D Will and Boozer is also very comparable to the combo of Stockton and Malone. Even more so than CP3 and Blake, because Boozer has a very consistent 15-18 foot jumper, a la Karl Malone.

And it DID NOT work in Utah, hence Sloan’s firing.

griffin

Sloan was with the jazz 23 years. He wasn’t fired he retired. Sloan is an amazing hall of fame coach. The only thing about sloan was he had bad relationships with his players. Which might pose a problem but he’s 1000 times better then vdn

griffin

And what do you mean phil jackson isn’t old school. He has been using the trianle ever since he was a coach and same defense too. He didn’t change his coaching he only change his attitude. He was too stress out and would get angry when the lakers would lose. Then he retired for a year and cameback a more laid back coach. But same system

Killer Instinct

I’m not saying Jerry Sloan is not a Hall of Fame Coach. During the late 80’s and all throughout the 90’s, he was one of the best coaches in the entire NBA. This is fact. And yes, he is definitely better than VDN. I’m not disputing that.

But the 80’s and 90’s was a completely different era. It was an era where players had no choice but to respect their coach. Coaches had a lot of power back then. In fact, a coach could easily get a player traded.

Now, it’s the complete opposite. This is an era where players have more control over their organizations than the head coaches do. Players can easily get their head coaches fired nowadays. Look at what happened with Demarcus Cousins and Paul Westphal. The sad thing about it is, Demarcus is not even an established player in the NBA yet. The league has truly changed.

You are only proving my point when you say “The only thing about sloan was he had bad relationships with his players.”

Why do you think he had bad relationships with his players? It’s because he’s too damn old school!

In the NBA, 75% of a head coach’s job is to successfully manage and maintain all of the different personalities and egos of the players on a team. That’s basically what it comes down to. You can have all the basketball knowledge about X’s and O’s in the world, but if you are not efficient at managing personalities, you will not be a good coach.

Maintaining healthy relationships with all of your players is the absolute most important thing as a head coach in the NBA, especially in this era. Players admired Sloan back in his heyday, but not anymore.

Sloan is from the era where head coaches could practically embarrass their players in public by yelling at them on the bench or during timeouts. The players had no choice but to accept it. You can’t do that with these players nowadays. Players have more power than coaches now.

When I use the term “old school”, I’m not talking about X’s and O’s. Yes, Phil has been using the triangle offense and the same defensive sets since he first came into the league. You’re right, he didn’t change his coaching, he only changed his attitude.

But again, you’re only proving my point.

Like I said, the most important aspect of head coaching is managing the personalities and egos on a team. Phil Jackson was ahead of his time when it came to this. Phil Jackson may be old, but he definitely was not an old school coach.

Basketball coaches have been using the same offensive and defensive systems for decades. The game of basketball has not changed. All the X’s and O’s are still the same, and they always will be. Ever since the days of George Mikan and Bob Cousy, the systems have not changed that much.

But that’s my point. The systems don’t change, but the philosophies of how you manage a team do change. And Jerry Sloan is not up to date as how to manage the players of today.

Clips4

Sloan would have had a few rings if it weren’t for Michael Jordan.

griffin

Brain shaw isn’t someone we need he uses the triangle. I don’t think this type of team would work in a triangle type offense. All I know is vdn has to go. We could use sam cassell but I’m kinda iffy about him being a head coach. All in all we need a good defensive minded coach who knows good defense

Killer Instinct

Obviously, if we really hired Brian Shaw, he wouldn’t be using the triangle offense with this Clippers team.

The Golden State Warriors were very close to hiring Brian Shaw this past summer. Are you saying he would have used the triangle offense for that team? I highly doubt it. You have to adapt your coaching strategies to fit to the specific needs of each individual roster.

If the Lakers had hired Shaw as their head coach, then yes, he would have used the triangle offense. But if the GS Warriors or the LA Clippers had hired him, he would not implement the triangle offense.

Brian Shaw is currently an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers, and they definitely do not run the triangle offense. Their system is not even close to anything that resembles the triangle offense.

griffin

Maybe that’s why they didn’t hire brain shaw cuz he wanted to use the trianle why else would you let an unexperince coach take the job over brain shaw. And right brain shaw is an assitant coach not head. That means the head coach is gonna run his style of offense and defense. Why would a head coach let his assistant coach run his offense? There’s a huge gap between power of a head coach and an assitant coach

Killer Instinct

Well then why would a head coach who DOES NOT run the triangle offense, hire an assistant coach who only knows the triangle offense? Think about what you’re saying…

Killer Instinct

That would be like if Phil Jackson hired Mike D’Antoni as an assistant coach. It’s completely pointless. A head coach is going to hire assistants who he feels will aide and assist him in implementing his own sets and schemes.

Frank Vogel likes for his Pacers to get up and down the floor on offense. They push the tempo whenever they can, but they execute well in the half-court. But most importantly, they get after you defensively.

Brian Shaw is the Associate Head Coach of the Indiana Pacers because he can aide and assist the team in playing the way they do.

You are completely wrong about there being a huge gap between the power of a head coach and an assistant coach.

The only difference between a head coach and his top assistants is that the head coach is the one who gets all the credit. He is the one standing during games yelling out plays, and he is the one who speaks at the podium on behalf of the team.

Behind the scenes however, the assistant coaches do as much, if not more work, than the head coach. Trust me, a head coach cannot survive without his assistants. Having an excellent group of assistant coaches is just as important as having a great head coach.

And if you look at every successful team in the NBA, I guarantee you they all have excellent coaching staffs. Not just a good head coach, but a good overall staff.

Trust me, Phil Jackson would not have won 11 championships without Tex Winter.

Trust me, Doc Rivers would not have led the Celtics to a championship without Tom Thibodeau.

Trust me, Greg Popovich would not have kept the Spurs in contention every year, year in and year out, without his rotating staff of some of the finest assistant coaches in basketball. A lot of his assistants have gone on to become successful head coaches in the league.

griffin

Reggiie evans was a beast on the boards. I actually saw some box out and not standing around looking at the ball waiting to come to them. I hope reggie will teach blake and dj to box out. If dj box out like evans he almost will have most improved player in hand. Sign evans for a few years this guy is a keeper thanks olshey.

Tim

Agreed! Another wise move by Olshey. Evans totally stablized the boards. We might get out rebounded by teams, until BG and DJ master the rebounding aspect of the game, but with Evans there, we aren’t going to get killed on the boards anymore. Teams aren’t going to be able to get a ga-zillion second chance points on us anymore.

generaltzu

two words….sam cassell

generaltzu

sam may even be able convince olojuwon to join him as assistant coach & mentor dj & blake.

Tim

You heard it here first. Sam Cassell will make a horrible head coach. Football fans remember Mike Singletary for the 49ers? Sam Cassell would fall into the Singletary category of former players who think they can coach.

generaltzu

take note ohlsey….

ClipsFan4Life

i really think that vinny needs to put in trey over cookie! He cant be any worse then cookie!

Killer Instinct

Did you hear the crowd booing Brian Cook last night? It was hilarious!

Benoit Benjamin

why not even play jones? jones and trey are on the bench watching cookie out there. jones has length and is an athlete. those two guys would be so much better than cook. i figure cook knows the team schemes that’s why he gets the edge, but knowing and doing are not evident on the court.

Joeluis323

Cookie without a 3pt shot is awfull to watch! I think he’s there for the defense that’s all.

Killer Instinct

Watching Shaun Livingston play last night made me reminisce about what would have been, or what could have been. He would probably be our starting PG right now, if not for that injury.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than elated that we got Chris Paul. But Shaun Livingston will always hold a special place in my heart.

griffin

If livingston would have never got injured I’m sure we would be a different team and livingston would have been in the mix for best top 5 pgs

Killer Instinct

I agree. I truly believe that Shaun Livingston would have been an All-Star PG in this league if not for that injury. He probably should have went to college (Duke) for a year or two, to strengthen and condition his body. His body just simply was not ready for the NBA at the time.

Dan S

I have said it before and I will say it again. Why does Brian Cook get minutes? Play Trey. Like someone said, there is no way he can be worse and he has a lot more upside.

The Lob the Jam!

Coming from Boston, I remember Doc Rivers was considered terrible before the Big 3 joined. The columnists regularly bashed him and called for his firing. A lot of people don’t remember this and he is definitely regarded as one of the best now, but trust me and whoever brought it up first, he was loathed in Boston when they were losing all the time.

The best thing VDN can do is delegate as much as possible to CP3. Smartest player in the league.

Killer Instinct

Well, it’s not Doc’s fault that the Celtics provided him with a bad roster. They basically only had Paul Pierce. And just because Boston was a loser at the time, it doesn’t mean Doc Rivers was a bad coach. Sure, he was loathed. But I remember when the Celtics hired Rick Pitino, he was eventually loathed, too. This was after all the Boston people thought that Pitino would be the savior.

I think Boston Celtics fans are just fickle.

And you guys will be even more fickle when Ray Allen signs with the Clippers next year!

griffin

Perhaps. I hope we do get someone either young and good but really allen can still shoot the 3 and with our offense he will excel

Tim

VDN does one thing extremely well from what I can see. I for one, am totally for continuity. You’ll go anywhere switching Head coaches in and one, so I say stick with VDN! He manages the game well. Yeah, they could do a better job from an x’s and o’s standpoint, but really, how many out of bounds plays actually determine the outcome of a game? Managing a game means, calling a time out, when the other team gets a head of steam. Del Negro calls timeout when we need time outs. Dunleavey would wait until we’re down by 12. VDN makes wise choices with substitutions. I really see only 9 guys getting consistent minutes (3,1,5,32,6,25,4,15,&30) Cook, Thomkins and Jones are going to have to earn their way onto the court. Obvoiusly Cook must be doing something in practice that we don’t see, thats getting him an extended stay on the court. Trust the coach on that call. With Dunleavey, you never knew who was going to play. All VDN really needs to do is coach up on the fundamentals (free-throws, boxing out), and the few offensive sets that they have will do. If they like the guy, if they’ll play for the guy, then he’s the guy! Nothing wrong with Vinnie.

Tim

*you’ll go nowhere

The Lob the Jam!

And Livingston is garbage. What exactly does he do besides being a tall guard? He’s slow, has no shot, no drive. I really don’t get the fascination. If he would have been a second round pick instead of a top 5 one, no one would care about him right now.

Killer Instinct

You’d be slower than usual too if you tore your ACL, PCL, MCL and lateral meniscus, and also dislocated your patella. The guy gruesomely tore three of the four ligaments in his left knee, for crying out loud. Give him a break.

You obviously never saw Shaun Livingston play before his nasty injury. He was just starting to come into his own. People forget about the road game versus the Golden State Warriors before he got hurt. He had 14 points and 14 assists, in a win for the Clippers. And he made it look easy!

He may not be what he once was, and he will never fulfill the potential that made him a top 5 NBA draft pick, but he definitely is not “garbage”. He had a very solid game off the bench.

Shaun Livingston is a role player now, and a very good one at that.

Tim

Livingston is an ok backup 2 now-a-days. He can defend his position. When we drafted him, he was the answer at the time. Jeff McInnis, Derrick Martin, Marco Jaric, and others were not going to get the job done. Livingston, could feed the post with his size, as Kaman and Brand needed the damn ball. He could defend the point, and the dude had mad-vision, could see air, and make amazing passes. Unfortunate injury though.

jgroove

Livingston is half as quick as he used to be, but I’m happy for him that he’s been able to refashion his game.

Row4

I’m not overly excited about Del Negro, but give the man a chance. Let’s see his results after 30 games. Then, we’ll have some data to make an evaluation.

jgroove

This week is gonna be tough. I’ll honestly be happy with 1-2. If we go 2-1 even better.

RL

We’ll go 3-0. Stop being such a downer.

Tim

Why is everyone so critical of this team, potentially the greatest Clippers team in franchise history. Del Negro is a former player, understands the game, give the guy a chance, its his 4th year as head coach on the pro level. The team has star power, and role players. We’re 11 to 12 deep. Stop trying to replace the GM, the Head Coach, and the bench players. Give VDN credit for playing the 3 guard attack late in the 4th quarter vs Milwaukee, it made them adjust to us. They ended up trading baskets the rest of the way, and could never really mount an attack. The Clippers are fine as is. 3-0 this week is a realistic expectation. We beat the Heat last year, with a lesser roster, while they were on a long winning streak. We have already figured out the Trail Blazers, and vs the Lakers? Thats a must win!

Tim

Didn’t Elgin Baylor and Dunleavey do enough damage already? NO Brian Shaw, no Phil Jackson, no more Dunleavey or Elgin Baylor types please! I want no former Lakers, or people with ties to the Lakers organization employed by the Clippers. Thank you.

Killer Instinct

I agree. No more former Lakers. We need to do it our own way and build our own brand. We need our own identity. I wish we had hired Dwayne Casey. He is a good coach. But we’ll see how far Vinny The Negro can lead this team.

As far as this season goes, The Negro is our coach. I don’t know what will happen after this season, but let’s worry about that after the season.

The Los Angeles Clippers will make it to the Western Conference Finals this year. You better believe it.

Steve

Don’t know I would call him “The Negro”? just my .02

griffin

If your gonna translate it. Translate it all they way or otherwise it looks kinda racist.